Apr. 21, 2017, 3:29 a.m.

There’s one thing “Spider-Man: Homecoming” can boast over previous Peter Parker films: a direct line to the Avengers. And when you’ve got Iron Man on speed dial, audiences can certainly expect a few technological upgrades to their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Premiering on July 7, Sony’s “Homecoming” is the first Spider-Man movie to join up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The new Parker (played by British actor Tom Holland) was introduced during the superhero showdown in “Captain America: Civil War” and, since his debut, the classic red-and-blue super suit has had a little work done.

“Tony Stark built it,” director Jon Watts says of Robert Downey Jr.’s “Iron Man” character. “So it has lots of bells and whistles.”

Sofia Coppola’s new picture, “The Beguiled,” is set during the Civil War, featuring a wounded Union soldier (Colin Farrell) who finds refuge on the grounds of a Southern girls school whose residents include Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning. As Farrell’s character convalesces, it becomes increasingly unclear whether he is manipulating his female caregivers or whether they are playing out their own power games through him.

“I just thought the premise was so interesting, because the story of power between men and women was such an interesting, loaded topic, and this premise really heightened it with this setting during the Civil War,” the 45-year-old director said. “The women were raised to be these perfect feminine creatures there for men, and then all the men disappear.”

Kurt Russell sings “Brandy,” the 1972 hit song, in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” as a way of explaining why his character, Ego the Living Planet (more on that name later), hasn’t been around much for his son, Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord. Ego calls “Brandy” Earth’s greatest composition, a line that, thinking about it, makes Russell laugh (and Russell is a man given to great laughter), loud and hard.

And then he relates the song to his career. And because this is Russell talking, the explanation is insanely detailed and delivered with enthusiasm and takes more than a few left turns. But here’s the gist:

“A lot of the movies I did, that were misunderstood at the time, live in that world of ‘Brandy.’ That level of humor. ‘Is this cruel but funny? Or not cruel at all but kind of cool? No, they don’t seriously think “Brandy” is the greatest song ever written, do they? Nooooooo!’

Apr. 21, 2017, 7:00 a.m.

This summer, women are shattering the glass ceiling … with their fists.

The slate includes a number of high-profile releases with powerful female characters at their centers. These fearless women are bad enough to slug it out with men, aliens and even Tom Cruise.

In “Atomic Blonde” (July 28), an MI6 operative conducts a dangerous mission on both sides of the Berlin Wall. It’s hard-boiled genre stuff in a brutal and stylish package with actress-producer Charlize Theron in the lead.

When we make these movies with women, we want to give them so much of an empathetic story. It has to be a revenge story, or there have to be children involved. … I can’t tell you how many times I said in meetings, ‘You don’t need to excuse her for being a woman. We don’t have to point out she can have babies or she loves her husband or her brother or whatever.’

Apr. 21, 2017, 7:00 a.m.

Whether you’re a classic art-house moviegoer of a certain age or a younger film lover looking for adventure beyond action yarns, there are options amid the costumed superheroes and wannabe blockbusters that make up the stereotypical movie releases of summer.

Apr. 21, 2017, 7:00 a.m.

The family takes a road trip and Greg schemes to become famous as a new cast takes over for the fourth installment based on Jeff Kinney's comic youth novels. With Jason Ian Drucker, Charlie Wright, Owen Asztalos, Tom Everett Scott, Alicia Silverstone. Written by Kinney and director David Bowers. 20th Century Fox

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie(June 2)

Apr. 21, 2017, 7:00 a.m.

For the last two years, movie audiences have been treated to scripts by former actor Taylor Sheridan. These are character-rich pieces that quietly subvert their genres’ predecessors (David Mackenzie’s Oscar-nominated western "Hell or High Water") or upend them entirely (Denis Villeneuve’s drug-trade thriller "Sicario").

Turns out, Sheridan has been saving his boldest work for himself.

"I always knew I wanted to direct this screenplay," Sheridan, 46, said by phone recently from his home in Wyoming. "So, I just didn't show it to anybody. I hid it in a drawer for three years and just waited."

One day Fionn Whitehead went in to read for a part in director Christopher Nolan’s World War II thriller, “Dunkirk,” and — if you’ll forgive the Hollywood cliché, which happens to be true here — everything changed.

Throughout the months of auditioning, Whitehead didn’t know much at all about “Dunkirk” beyond the title and general subject matter. As with Nolan’s previous films, which include the “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception” and “Interstellar,” details about the project were kept tightly under wraps.

“Everyone was going in blind,” said Whitehead. “No one knew how many characters there were, who the characters were, how old they were, the plot, anything. It was very, very secretive.”

“All Eyez on Me,” titled after the last album Tupac Shakur released while alive, is set to be one of the summer’s standouts.

In the vein of 2015’s “Straight Outta Compton,” which charted the rise of rap group N.W.A, “Eyez” aims to chronicle the impact the Harlem-born artist had on the music scene. (Earlier this year, Shakur was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)